Can I use Sitefinity to create an extranet where I can launch secure applications based on user permissions?Cancel

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I am in the early stages of researching portal related development tools for a project coming up. I have read over much of the material and have watched some of the videos as well as downloaded a trial of Sitefinity. Below I have outlined a clip of what I am trying to accomplish and have also put together a few questions for Telerik or any developers that may have the answers. I have found some or partial answers to some of my questions and requirements, but am posting here in hopes of getting some good answers and explanations. Hopefully you all can help me out in deciding if Sitefinity is a good fit.

Overview of what I am trying to accomplish:

Develop an enterprise level portal for both internal and external use that has the capability of hosting secure applications built in ASP.NET and Silverlight. Once the user is signed into the portal they should not be required to sign into the hosted applications, forums, mail, etc. Windows based shop running .NET, Windows Server 08 and SQL 08. I need a tool to help me accomplish this task. Below are some additional requirements:

- Limit user access to particular content based on permissions.

- Capable of MSOffice integrations, such as outlook 'may' be required.

- Windows authentication for user sign in 'may' be required (If I have a local windows user account I should be able to sign in with my same credentials through the local network into the portal)

- 'May' be required to host focused advertising from ad networks on the public site and/or the portal

- Public portion of site with a customized 'myPortal' after signing in, that can access both public and private content of site

- Profile customization for signed in users

- .NET 4 compatible

Questions:

1. What types of security layers does Sitefinity offer?

2. If I purchase Sitefinity, do I need to purchase ASP.NET/Silverlight control packages if I want to customize the RAD controls that come with the Sitefinity package? Are these just the DLLS or do I get the full blown package so that I can customize controls if need be?

3. What are the current limitations of the Sitefinity in terms of internal/external Portal development that I should know about before purchasing?

4. If I host silverlight applications on Sitefinity, would there be any issues with WCF/RIA services or security that I should be aware about? Or should it be a typical .NET experience after I am logged in? (No surprises?)

Aside from Sitefinity I am also looking at:

DNN (Dot Net Nuke)
Sitecore
Sharepoint
Kentico
Ektron
Umbraco

I am looking at these for their .NET friendliness. JAVA and other platforms or frameworks have been thrown out because of this requirement. If you have an opinion or experience with any of these and can share I would be grateful, especially in comparison to Sitefinity.

If I should be honest, the current version of Sitefinity will not be suitable for your project. Here is why:- Capable of heavy secure - reporting, data visualization, and custom application hosting
We still doesn't have these features implemented. You can still go and code those by yourself through.

- Public portion of site with a customized 'myPortal' after signing in, that can access both public and private content of site
Again, you may go with custom coding. Out of the box personalization allows you to customize the project dashboard.

- .NET 4 compatible
This will become possible with one of the following versions of Sitefinity.

I think that the project is relatively big for a CMS from this range - the hosting of 3rd party applications requires a lot more than content management. Still, you may try to contact some our Service Partners, listed on our web site, and ask them if they have done anything like this in the past. Perhaps they could be of your help.

All the best,
Georgi
the Telerik team

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